Kultur 1 Assignment

About 15% of Americans identify themselves as German-Americans. This suprised me because I would have thought that the American population would be made of more African-American or Hispanic-American people. I think that the fact that most German immigrants settled in the Midwest or "German Belt" is still an obvious conclusion today. If you compare the Midwest to areas such as the Deep South or out west near California you will see a difference in culture. In the Midwest you will find more densily populated towns with people that consider themselves as European descendants. In the Deep South and southeast you will find a mix of Hispanics and "rednecks". I thought that it was interesting that Milwaukee is considered the most German city in America. I have never payed much attention to Milwaukee but I think it would be interesting to go there and go to Germany and find similarities between them. I also find it interesting that the rural landscape with forests played such a big role in Germans deciding to immigrate to America. It is also interesting that the "Turner Movement" played such a big role in bringing about gymnastics and physical education in American Culture and schools. Hoover and Eisenhower were the only two Presidents with German heritage. Clearly John F. Kennedy lied when he said "Ich bin ein Berliner". Of course he did call himself a "jelly doughnut" but he meant it as a "man of Berlin".

The book says the "Fraulein" is still used for younger girls but I thought it was becoming outdated overall. I'm curious that is Liechtenstein so small that they could just be considered a part of Germany since they speak German there anyways. I think that the article in the book gives proof that learning German can be just as if not more beneficial than learning Spanish, since a large majority of Europe speaks German.